How to leave a job on short notice without harming your reputation

Have you been offered a new job that you cannot refuse and your new employers want you to start yesterday? How can you quit your job without ruining your relationship with your current employer and avoid leaving a huge mess behind when you leave.

Quitting a job without providing your employer an adequate notice period is always a shock, however employers only worry and care about the effects and repercussions it will have on the business operations. Should you find yourself in a position that you have to leave your current employment immediately, you must make sure that your departure is smooth and painless for the company you are leaving. If you can accomplish this, then your hasty departure will not burn any bridges or damage your reputation.

Think of leaving like taking a vacation

Taking a vacation, in essence, is like leaving your job for a short period of time. When you go on vacation a few things can happen. One, work will pile up when you depart. Two, a temp will take over your work load. Three, your work load is delegated to another employee whilst you are on vacation. Assuming you know the procedures you need to take when you take a vacation, then begin putting that plan into action:

Delegate your work load to co-workers to asset you whilst you away and complete any unfinished projects or tasks

If temps are assigned for employees who take a vacation, then discuss replacement options with your supervisor or manager and make sure your work load is transferred.

If you leave your work to pile up while on vacation, then you need to make good notes and instructions and leave this in a place that is easily accessible for a fellow employee to find and take over without causing too much disruption to the business operations. This will help the individual who take over your work load and your job as well as keep you boss happy.

Help and asset to find a suitable replacement

In order to leave on good terms and keep your reputation in tact, you must assist your boss to find a replacement so that there is no big disruption to that daily operations of your soon to be former company. Given you cannot become the HR department and become a recruiter, however you can put a good word and use your network to try find a person with the necessary experience and expertise to take over your position. Use social networks like Linkedin, Facebook, and Google+ where people can share the position and details. You might not succeed but at least you will be able to demonstrate to your boss that you are making every effort to assist and make your departure as smooth as possible.

Complete any unfinished projects or delegate work to another employee

Most of the time when you need to leave a job immediately without the adequate notice period, in all likelihood you will have some tasks and projects that are unfinished. You need to find a way to take care of any unfinished work or delegate any unfinished work to another individual. After your departure, permit your boss to call you if there are any questions or issues that arise over the next 2 weeks. in essence you place yourself in a position as a free consultant for 2 weeks in place of your notice period that you should have given. The best solution is to delegate all your projects and tasks. Make sure that the person taking over your work load understand what has to be done and assist them to get acclimated.

Offer your boss any further assistance

You might take care of all the possible and inevitable issues that might arise due to your hasty departure. However, in order to not burn any bridges and damage your reputation, you need to go thee extra mile to please your boss. Ask your supervisor, manager, boss what you can do to make your departure as smooth as possible and make the transition as seamless as possible. try make your boss’s life easier in order to avoid any conflict so the best way to do this is ask how you can assist.

The company will move on after your departure

Leaving a job without the proper notice period will, in most instances, create a crisis and stress for the company and you probably risk burning some bridges if you do not manage your departure responsibly. Remember, the company and office existed before you got there and will continue to exist after you leave. Even if were an employee that worked harder than anyone else in the the office, remember the success of the business did not and will not hinge on you alone. Your departure will not make or break the company. Even if your boss think the world of you and values you highly, in the grand scheme of things your position in the company does not really matter. The business will continue to function without you and believe it or not the damage you cause by your hasty departure will soon be forgotten and be a minor issue once your leave.

A hasty departure is not the end of the world, however it does need a little responsibility and care but don’t go overboard. The easier you make it for your former employer to easier it will be to avoid burning any bridges and to keep your reputation in tact.